Carshalton's Ricky Boylan has taken another step to boxing stardom by signing for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing stable.

The 25-year-old is still recovering from a perforated eardrum sustained in winning the Southern Area light welterweight title last month.

However, he is due back in the ring on February 22 in a warm up bout ahead of his first title defence in March or April against John Wayne Hibbert.

Matchroom boast some of the biggest names in the sport including current super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch, and the Olympic super heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

Boylan said: “This move is massive for me, I have worked all my career to get to this point. “Now it has happened, I could not be more delighted.

“Matchroom is the biggest boxing promoter there is, I’ll be fighting in front of the Sky Sports cameras, I cannot wait.”

He added: “I don’t need to run down the list of fighters in the Matchroom stable, they speak for themselves.

“I had offers from other promoters, but this is the best move for me. “It is a great achievement for me to join the best boxing stable in Britain.”

It promises to be a big year for Boylan, who is unbeaten in 10 bouts, and he is looking to make the next step up very soon.

“I’m looking at the English and British titles of course,” he said. “I’ll be getting really good exposure and that’s important to build my profile up, so I’d like to be knocking on the door of the British title by the end of the year, after defending the Southern Area title and hopefully winning the English.”

Boylan’s new promoter Hearn has big plans for the fighter and believes the light welterweight division is one to watch this year.

He said: “I’m delighted to welcome Ricky Boylan to the team.

“He is an exciting young fighter and one of the biggest ticket sellers in the country. We are investing in the 140lb division here and have already signed the British champion Darren Hamilton who will defend against Curtis Woodhouse in Hull on February 22.

“We have big plans for Olympic captain Tom Stalker as well as Prizefighter champion Chris Jenkins and now Ricky joins that mix.”

Power house: Ricky Boylan, left, en route to defeating Bela Sandor in August